STRATEGIST
CHARITABLE AND FINANCIAL PLANNING GUIDE Fall 2014
Mike Strickler’s estate gift for Virginia Tech will one day … . . . provide academic support to help others achieve their dreams . . . help prepare generations of researchers to solve tomorrow’s challenges . . . add the gift of a lifetime to a lifetime of giving back. In this issue: Strickler Estate Gift . . . . . . . Page 1 Buchanan Legacy . . . . . . . . Page 2 Help Us Honor Your Generosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2 2014 Charitable IRA Rollover . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3 Tax-Wise Retirement Account Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3 Beneficiary Review . . . . . . . . Page 3 Welcome Pete Congleton. . . Page 3 Our 16th President, Timothy Sands. . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
“A scholarship is something I was fortunate enough to have, and I want others to have that opportunity.” – Mike Strickler ‘83
Strickler Legacy Will Pay it Forward by Judith Davis “My family wasn’t well off financially,” begins Mike Strickler ‘83. As a high school student from rural Timberville, Virginia, he applied to and was accepted by 10 colleges: nine for chemistry/physics and one, Virginia Tech, for geology. He and his parents compared costs and scholarship offers. He could go to college, but not Virginia Tech. During Mike’s senior year, he was summoned to the principal’s office for news that changed his life. He had been awarded a scholarship allowing him to attend any college he chose. “I phoned Virginia Tech and said, ‘Hey, I’ve changed my mind!’” says Mike. “Admissions said, ‘Come on down.’ So I majored in geology at one of the largest schools in the state.” Mike’s geological sciences degree prepared him for graduate school at Louisiana State University, where he met his future wife, Donna, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute geology graduate from Long Island, New York. After earning their master’s degrees in geology at LSU, they built successful careers as well as a family of Houston Hokies. They have two teenage daughters, one hoping to someday study veterinary medicine in Blacksburg. “I realize I wouldn’t be where I am in life right now without the education and experiences I had at Virginia Tech,” says Mike. Over the years, his appreciation has prompted him to give back to the university through annual gifts and volunteer leadership in the College of Science and in the New Orleans and Houston alumni chapters. Recently, he created a will bequest that will pay it forward with an estate gift to create the Michael E. Strickler Undergraduate Research Endowment for geology students within the department of geosciences. Continued on page 4 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | 1
“It is my intention to honor Dr. Pritchard and further the goals of VPI.” – Walter Buchanan ‘19
WALTER A. BUCHANAN SR. LEGACY AT WORK Walter A. “Buck” Buchanan Sr. was born in 1898 – only a dozen years after what is considered the birth of the modern automobile. Today, Buchanan’s estate gift is instrumental in research that has moved far beyond the horseless carriage, into the world of the driverless car. The youngest of ten children, Buck Buchanan graduated from Virginia Tech (then VPI) in 1919 with an electrical engineering degree that helped him become a distinguished pioneer in the electric power industry. Described by classmates as “a persistent worker,” Buchanan remained actively employed until age 84. He died in 1989 at age 91. In a lifetime filled with career, family, community service, outdoor sports, and travel, Buchanan often expressed pride in his alma mater and cited professors who had inspired him. His legacy to Virginia Tech endowed the Samuel Reynolds Pritchard Professorship, recognizing excellence in engineering research and honoring a man Buchanan had known as professor, department head, and dean. Today, the Pritchard Professorship endowed by Buchanan’s gift is held by Hesham A. Rakha, whose transportation research in the Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering may one day lead to safer highways, fewer traffic jams, and robotic “traffic cops” directing environmentally friendly, driverless cars. Through his estate gift, Buchanan is still a pioneer – helping Virginia Tech invent the future of transportation – today, tomorrow, and always.
Above: Hesham Rakha, Samuel Reynolds Pritchard Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (in red), and Virginia Tech Transportation Institute researcher Hao Chen (in blue) are developing a web-based app that will tell users when and where high levels of traffic are most likely to occur. The professorship held by Rakha was created with an estate gift from Walter A. Buchanan Sr., Class of 1919.
More about the research of Hesham Rakha and Hao Chen http://bit.ly/1xpoKUz More about the Samuel Reynolds Pritchard Professorship award http://bit.ly/1oN8qJY
Help us honor your generosity If you have remembered Virginia Tech in your will, revocable trust, retirement plan, or with any estate gift, please let us know so we can . . . … better understand, confidentially record, and one day follow your wishes. … thank you today and, if you wish, welcome you as a member of the Legacy Society. Office of Gift Planning Phone: 1-800-533-1144 or 540-231-2813 Email: giftplanning@vt.edu
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TAX PLANNING 2014
2014 Charitable IRA Rollover As of this writing, Congress has not renewed for 2014 the popular charitable IRA rollover (also called a qualified charitable distribution or QCD) which expired on Dec. 31, 2013. In every year that the charitable IRA rollover has been available, eligible Virginia Tech donors age 70 1/2 or older have taken advantage of this special provision to exclude from taxable income – and count toward their required minimum distribution – qualifying gifts transferred directly from their IRAs to the Virginia Tech Foundation Inc. in support of the area of their choice. Renewal remains possible. Since it was first introduced as a temporary provision in the Pension Protection Act of 2006, the charitable IRA rollover has been made available for every tax year – renewed in two-year increments, sometimes very late in the year. While there is no guarantee that Congress will again renew the provision, a 2014 charitable IRA rollover remains a real possibility.
OTHER TAX-WISE RETIREMENT ACCOUNT GIFTS
We will post updates on the availability of a 2014 charitable IRA rollover at http://bit.ly/irarollover along with answers to frequently asked questions. Or you can contact the Office of Gift Planning directly. Email giftplanning@vt.edu or phone 1-800533-1144 or 540-231-2813.
BENEFIT YOUR FAMILY AND VIRGINIA TECH by donating highly taxed retirement account assets from your estate, while passing more taxadvantaged assets to your heirs.
Consult your accountant or financial advisor if you are considering any gift of retirement assets or if you are considering a gift that will affect your tax, retirement, or estate planning.
Simply name the Virginia Tech Foundation Inc. as a beneficiary of an IRA, 401k, 403b, SEP, or other retirement account.
Pete Congleton Named Director of Gift Planning
REVIEW BENEFICIARY DESIGNATIONS periodically to reflect your wishes.
In March, Virginia Tech welcomed Peter H. “Pete” Congleton as the new Director of Gift Planning. Pete brings with him 20 years’ experience in the field of gift planning, most recently at Hartford University where he led planned giving operations for nine years. During the last four years, he also served on the board of the Planned Giving Group of New England. “Over the years, I have seen ordinary people make extraordinary gifts,” says Pete. “Inventing the future takes loyalty, vision, and the courage to put a plan in place. I look forward to helping Hokies do just that.” Pete’s energy, enthusiasm, and expertise in working with donors to maximize both the impact of their generosity and the benefits of thoughtful gift strategies make him a valuable resource for the university’s donors. More about Pete at http://bit.ly/ZWCmc4
Retirement accounts, insurance policies, certificates of deposit, and other financial instruments provide a form for you to name a person or an institution such as the Virginia Tech Foundation Inc. as a beneficiary or contingent beneficiary. Beneficiary designations, along with your will, are part of your estate plan. However, updating your will does not update your beneficiary designations. Beneficiary designations take precedence over a will. Review both your will and your beneficiary designations when you have family or financial changes such as a divorce, marriage, death, birth, retirement, sale of business interests, or change in assets.
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Strickler, continued from page 1
“Donna and I talked about it,” says Mike, “and the will benefit generations of students performing reason for the estate gift is really the same reason as hands-on research in geology. “I have a lot of faith in our annual giving. We make annual gifts that can be the generation that’s coming through,” says Mike. “They matched by my employer. This way, we can do more. An have a lot of energy for the world. There’s a lot to learn – estate gift was a way of giving a larger sum of money a lot of problems to work out. Hopefully they can solve out there in the future that could help students. The some of those problems. That needs to be encouraged.” purpose of the endowment is Donna agrees. “Mike was a to make sure students have the country boy. And because he got chance to learn and experithe scholarship, the opportunience and grow while they’re at ties were afforded to him. That Virginia Tech.” may be the case, too, for other The Stricklers worked with bright students. Maybe they their Houston lawyer and the would love to do something like Virginia Tech development this, but they just can’t muster office to verify details for up the funds. We don’t want wording their bequest. Estate [finances] to prevent them from The Michael E. Strickler Undergraduate gifts come to the university living their dream.” Research Endowment will help fund hands-on after the donor’s lifetime, so it’s “I was the first person academic experiences for future Virginia Tech important to have a clear record in my dad’s family to get a geology students. of the donor’s wishes. “We college degree,” says Mike. “I In this photo: Geoscience students examine karst features in Giles County, Virginia. wanted to make sure we did it vividly remember the day I got right,” says Mike, “so it’s set up my diploma. There was a sense correctly with no snags later. Tech was very helpful. We of accomplishment that I remember well. A scholargot everything we needed.” ship is something I was fortunate enough to have, and The Strickler endowment will create a legacy that I want others to have that opportunity.”
Virginia Tech’s 16th president, Timothy D. Sands, joins a long and distinguished tradition of university leaders, students, faculty, alumni, and friends who, since 1872, have invented the future, honored the past, and exemplified the spirit of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).
Charitable Giving Solutions Do I need a lawyer to make an estate gift? A lawyer can include a gift for Virginia Tech in your will. Some estate gifts, such as a beneficiary designation, do not require a lawyer – but we hope you will discuss with your legal or financial advisor any gift that affects your estate, retirement, or tax planning. Where can my lawyer find Virginia Tech’s recommended bequest language? Online at http://bit.ly/vtgpbq is sample language for different types of bequests. I want to make a gift for tax year 2014. It’s best to start early – especially for gifts of real estate, securities, or retirement account assets. See year-end giving guide at http://bit.ly/yearendguidelines for information to help you complete your gift before Dec. 31, 2014. More about 2014 IRA gifts in this newsletter, page 3.
Send for your free booklet, “Your Will and Other Ways to Transfer Assets.” Use the enclosed card or contact us. Office of Gift Planning (0336) Gateway Center, Virginia Tech 902 Prices Fork Road Blacksburg, VA 24061 Phone: 800-533-1144 or 540-231-2813 Email: giftplanning@vt.edu Visit: www.givingto.vt.edu Writer/Editor | Judith Davis Photographers | A. Loman, J. McCormick, M. Schreiber, J. Stroup, L. Wallace, A. Wernikoff Designer | Walter Hearn
President Sands welcomes new students and parents at orientation.
See Dr. Sands’ first week in photos. http://bit.ly/Vcmhw1 4 | STRATEGIST Charitable and Financial Planning Guide
© Strategist: Fall 2014 This publication is designed to provide accurate Information, offered with the understanding that the publisher, editors and contributors are not, in this publication, engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional service. The contents should not be applied as legal or financial advice. If legal service or other expert assistance is required, readers should seek the services of a competent professional. All examples are for illustrative purposes only and are based on IRS tables and regulations in effect at the time of writing.